The original Master Plan of 2009 masses facilities in the center of the civic center site away from residential neighbors. The road shown would have been a new entrance from the San Antonio – Edith intersection.
Lalah changes her mind about the high-priced 2009 Master Plan Phase I
The 2009 Master Plan Phase I, aborted in 2012, had a number of virtues vis-á-vis the interests of immediate neighbors. The end result of Phase I would have moved all the buildings, noise and commotion to the center of the civic center, away from the residential neighbors. The traffic flow, ingress and egress locations, are no worse than they are now. There is a large buffer distance of road or field between every home and a civic building/facility. The caveat is that neighbors expected that Phase II – a pool – would never occur. Thus neighbors lifestyles were made no worse off. Living near new community building would probably have boosted property values.
But the 2012 bond was deemed “too expensive and too big” by the general public including Lalahpolitico. But I now realize it did have triple virtues: 1) with facilities massed in the center, it did not harm the enjoyment of immediate neighbors, 2) it placed community buildings close to San Antonio, where they can be more of a boost to downtown “vibrancy,” and 3) it added a new eye-catching ingress/egress point at the traffic light at Edith and San Antonio. Good for traffic and for curb-appeal.
Many plans for the Los Altos Civic Center over the years tend to mass the buildings in the center of the site. Here is the original 1958 plan which was obviously not fully implemented. The City did not own the adjacent Hillview parcels till the 1970s. Compare this layout to Los Altos Measure A site plans which mass increased activity and traffic on Hillview Ave.
So yes I’ve changed my mind about the 2012 Phase I Plan. I generally like it. I personally would pay more to have the buildings massed in the center, protecting my neighbors from traffic, noise and nuisance they don’t have now. I don’t want to hurt them. Of course many voters don’t want to hurt neighbors, but also don’t want to pay more.
There are caveats of course.
I don’t remember the public being asked if a vast expansion of recreation courses “to meet demand” was a high priority. I suspect, like the pool, expansion of recreation is a low priority, and therefore the community center does not need to be 55,000 square feet. Maybe just 25,000? I do realize that massing buildings in the center of the 18 acres means tearing down the old police station and city hall and paying to rebuild those in the new central location. [A police building could be relocated to the McKensie Park area.]
Some good ideas have come out of City and Los Altos Forward public charrette meetings since 2012. How about keeping this underground parking idea? One entrance right at the Edith traffic light? Maybe over 400 parking so spots can be sold as in-lieu for new downtown developments? When does downtown get it parking assessment district? Maybe the city should get into the office development business? City Hall or the City Center could be 3 stories perhaps? How about a couple extra two floors so the Los Altos District Offices can move to floors 2 and 3? Yup, Sadly the heritage apricot orchard may have to be moved. And Los Altos Hills participation is off the table because they have decided to build their own small community building on Fremont Ave. in Los Altos Hills.
